Ancient Text Stone Slab!

The greatest secret of the Evening Bell Church base discovered in the tundra region... was that ancient text stone slab.

Gu Shen ultimately killed Mr. Zhuo, and scavenged the memories of that stone slab from his spiritual ocean. However, at the last moment of deciphering, a wisp of spiritual power from the Storm God's Throne descended, causing the transmission of the stone slab's memory to be interrupted.

In reality, even if he had truly obtained that memory, he might not have been able to decipher it successfully. [Ancient Writing] can be said to be the ultimate problem facing all of humanity, and it has not been conquered to this day.

But Gu Shen had a vague feeling.

Xiao understood these ancient texts to some extent!

At least... he knew some of the content!

The man sitting across from Gu Shen couldn't help but laugh when he heard this first question.

"I should have told you that I can only recognize a portion of the content on this stone slab... so you're not expecting me to decipher the entire stone slab and tell you what it says, are you?"

The mingling blood fire and blazing fire flickered.

Any slightest fluctuation of spiritual power would not escape the other party's perception.

Gu Shen knew that Xiao was not lying.

He gestured for the other party to continue.

"As far as I know, this stone slab records a kind of 'forbidden art,' similar to your divination." Xiao said slowly, "As for what that art is, the stone slab doesn't describe it in detail, or perhaps I didn't understand it... but it's definitely something that would drive countless people crazy."

The flickering of the blood fire was very steady.

Mm.

He wasn't lying.

"Regarding the content on the stone slab... that's all I know." He looked directly into Gu Shen's eyes and shrugged, "The idea behind your question is good, but unfortunately... you asked the wrong person."

He basically didn't get any useful information.

But Gu Shen was basically satisfied.

He didn't expect this so-called "one question and one answer," "sincere exchange," to elicit any real secrets. In Gu Shen's view, the more important significance of this exchange of questions and answers was to ensure that he and Xiao were on the same level in terms of awareness of "important information."

This was a gambler, a liar.

If he wanted to cooperate with him, he had to see things clearly enough.

And also understand what strange routines this guy had.

"Alright... according to the rules, it's my turn to ask now."

Xiao smiled and said, "What exactly is this lamp, which doesn't seem to have anything special about it... what kind of sealed item is it?"

A good question.

Gu Shen answered very quickly, almost instantly: "This lamp is not a sealed item."

Xiao looked surprised.

He looked at Gu Shen, and for a moment, he was speechless.

He had just asked the question, and before the sound of his voice had even faded, Gu Shen had already completed his answer. The entire process probably only took one second, maybe two seconds?

And the feedback transmitted spiritually proved that... Gu Shen was not lying.

Xiao's expression was a little unsightly. In his view, the Li family had spent so much effort to find the "antique lamp," this behavior must have a deep meaning and connotation. It was absolutely impossible for this to be an ordinary "antique object." This must be a sealed item with extremely deeply hidden characteristics.

Not a sealed item?

"This lamp... is it really just a lamp?"

Xiao was somewhat incredulous. He looked up in confusion, his eyes full of incomprehension.

"I'm sorry," Gu Shen said lightly, "It's my turn to ask now."

Xiao snorted coldly, silently clenched the armrest of the chair, and narrowed his eyes.

"What did you get in the mausoleum?"

This was also a question that Gu Shen couldn't get an answer to.

That time they fought in the snowfield.

Xiao sounded the alarm, and before "dying," he told himself with satisfaction... that he had already gotten what he wanted.

From the opening of the coffin to the end, he had seen the entire process.

Xiao's physical body was destroyed on the spot, and he didn't take away any objects at all.

And what could be obtained... were only certain pieces of information.

After hearing this, Xiao simply smiled.

He didn't hide anything, but spoke frankly: "Actually, it's not a big secret. Haven't you noticed that the corpse disappeared after the coffin was opened? I'm very sure that the owner of that tomb... didn't ultimately die in the coffin. He left the mausoleum himself. The only thing I obtained from the mausoleum was this piece of information."

Gu Shen recalled the scene he saw when he used [Profiling]...

The tomb owner pushed the coffin open himself and walked out!

It was precisely because he took a few more glances that he became tainted by that ominousness!

When Xiao said this, Gu Shen realized that this man was hiding something from him.

He wasn't lying.

But he chose to hide something.

If he had only learned about the whereabouts of the so-called "forbidden art" from some unknown stone slab, would he really have traveled thousands of miles to infiltrate a place like the tundra?

No...

That news was too general, too vague.

What's more, Xiao ultimately gained nothing.

Could it be that merely learning that the "tomb owner" didn't die in the coffin was already considered "worth the trip" to him?

Xiao must have learned more specific content about the "forbidden art," but the method of obtaining it wasn't on the ancient text stone slab... so in the first question, he deliberately avoided what the real content of the "forbidden art" was, and only mentioned that he couldn't fully understand the content on the stone slab.

Gu Shen didn't understand forbidden arts.

But he understood Xiao.

"You know very well what the content of that forbidden art is..." Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice.

Xiao simply changed to a lazy posture and responded with Gu Shen's words just now, "Sorry, that's the next question. According to the agreement, I only need to answer your previous question... now it's my turn to ask."

Xiao wasn't in a hurry to ask the second question, but first said slowly, "When I was in the mausoleum, I didn't have time to carefully examine these burial objects... now that I think about it, they are indeed ordinary objects and not so-called sealed items. But the Li family spent so much effort to find them, there must be a reason. These objects are definitely not ordinary 'antiques'... very well, please tell me frankly what these lamps do."

Xiao didn't know how many lamps there were.

He only knew that there was definitely more than one.

And this question... encompassed several questions, and of course Gu Shen couldn't honestly answer.

"..."

He pondered for a moment and said calmly, "These lamps are just ordinary antiques, but they are special containers that can be used to carry spirits. As for what will happen after carrying spirits, I don't know, and neither does the Li family."

"I understand... thank you for your 'generous' answer." Xiao said with a mocking smile, "As for the third question, I think there's no need to continue, right?"

He wasn't a fool.

After these two answers, he could clearly feel that the two flames of blood fire and blazing fire were intertwined. They said they were being sincere, but in reality, both sides had ulterior motives, and no one wanted to say too much information.

After exchanging questions, they were basically playing Tai Chi and going around in circles within the rules.

And they were unwilling to answer the questions that truly touched on the other party's "secrets."

If they continued to ask, and Gu Shen asked about the true content of the "forbidden art," and Xiao asked about the specific location of the "other lamps," both sides would probably choose to refuse to answer and stop asking questions.

"Indeed, there's no need to continue. The following negotiations can also end... I can see that you don't have the sincerity to negotiate." Gu Shen stretched out his palm and gently hooked his fingers.

"I'll confiscate this thing."

The blazing fire suddenly exerted force, wrapped that small wisp of blood fire, and returned to his palm.

No matter how small mosquito meat is, it's still meat.

From the beginning, Gu Shen didn't have any hope for this so-called "sincere confession."

He tricked a wisp of blood fire from Xiao, which could barely be considered his gain.

Without hesitation, he directly clenched his fist and crushed this wisp of "blood fire"!

Strands of blood-colored flames wrapped around Gu Shen's fist and were eventually clenched in his palm.

Seeing this scene.

The man sitting in the chair looked troubled... confiscating my fire in front of me?

This scene wasn't very harmful, but it was extremely insulting.

How unlucky!

He's been fleecing people all day long, but today he's being fleeced by someone else?

He had been playing Tai Chi with Gu Shen and lost a wisp of original extraordinary power for nothing. Looking at the other party's expression at the moment, it seemed that he hadn't taken this conversation seriously from the beginning.

"You want to see my sincerity?"

Xiao said coldly, "I know the location of that lamp!"

After hearing this, Gu Shen glanced at Xiao lightly.

He simply smiled.

He didn't say anything, and didn't even take Xiao's words seriously.

This questioning revolved around the lamp... but Gu Shen didn't ask about the location of the lamp at all. He knew that this guy dared to come to his door with this information, it wouldn't be that simple.

The person who takes the initiative to come to the door is always passive.

Compared to Gu Shen, Xiao definitely wanted to know more about the specific information of the "lamp."

Seeing that Gu Shen didn't react, the next thing would be to drive him away...

Xiao finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"To tell you the truth, with the people you've found, you won't be able to find the lamp in Xiyin even in the year of the monkey."

He looked solemn, tapped his finger on the back of the chair, and took the initiative to release the information: "The lamp you're looking for is in the underground secret room of the Crescent Church in Xiyin City, and it's now being closely guarded."

Gu Shen frowned.

"Underground secret room? How do you know?"

Xiao was a little helpless.

He stretched out a hand and pointed to the half wisp of light blood color lingering between his eyebrows, the implication was too obvious...

The Crescent Church was just one of his "homes."

"That object is just a mundane thing, how could it be valued by the Crescent Church." Gu Shen felt it was very unreasonable. Since the Li family launched the [Lamp Seeking] plan, the two lamps they brought back were found among the people.

"Xiyin City is the headquarters of the Crescent Church. Under the church, there is a secret room dedicated to storing 'extraordinary sealed items,' similar to the underground of the Flower Banner Building." Xiao said unhurriedly, "It's just that... someone recently offered a special tribute, saying it couldn't be damaged, and that's this lamp."

"The subsequent events shouldn't be hard to guess... after the lamp was tested by the church's extraordinary people, it was indeed found to have special qualities. It didn't seem like a sealed item, but it had strange tenacity, so it was stored separately in the underground secret room of the Crescent Church, and sealed with those sealed items."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

Xiao noticed that Gu Shen's expression had changed.

He smiled, and extended an olive branch, saying, "How about... do you want to consider bringing the [Lamp] out together?"

Gu Shen looked at Xiao calmly.

Join forces with Xiao?

The latter said slowly, "As far as I know, the archbishop Lanweier, who is in charge of guarding these sealed items in the Crescent Church, is at least a tenth-level great extraordinary. With his strength, it's basically impossible for you to take the [Lamp] head-on."

"Please change the word 'you' to 'I,' thank you."

Gu Shen unceremoniously exposed him.

Obviously... Xiao had already discovered the location of the [Lamp], but he didn't take action, but instead came to seek his help... the only reason was that he couldn't do it himself.

Xiao didn't feel embarrassed, smiled indifferently, and said, "Indeed... my current power is not strong enough, otherwise how could I meet you in this capacity?"

To him—

Was the [Lamp] as important as Gu Shen?

If he could take the [Lamp] from Lanweier... his strength would at least be at the fourth stage. In this case, if he learned that Gu Shen had arrived in Southern Continent alone, the first thing he would do was to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and directly kill the "Blazing Fire" master in front of him!

"You need someone to help you enter the underground of the Crescent Church... to find the secret room where the [Lamp] is placed."

Xiao stared at Gu Shen and said slowly, "There are dozens of secret rooms there, and only one is correct."

The implication was obvious...

Only I can help you!

"Time, place, specific plan." Gu Shen said decisively.

"Lanweier has twelve followers under his command, each responsible for a part of the area, rotating to guard the secret room twenty-four hours a day... these people have 'spiritual imprints' planted in their spiritual oceans by Lanweier, and if they are hypnotized, it will attract attention." Xiao said slowly, "The good news is that I am in charge of a part of the area, and can lead you to sneak into the underground of the church smoothly, but the bad news is... the location of the [Lamp] is in another part of the area. When taking the lamp, you need to cross the guard of another follower to get the corresponding key."

"It's worth mentioning that... the underground secret room of the Crescent Church has a well-equipped strong logical material defense system. It's not the same level of fortifications as the Evening Bell Church's base in the tundra. Once it's locked down, it's almost impossible to escape. This system resets the password every once in a while. According to the rules, the next rotation date should be in three days. If you want to take action... you have to do it as soon as possible and start the action within three days."

After saying all this in one breath.

Xiao stretched out two fingers and said slowly, "Twenty-one hours later, Lanweier has an important meeting. He rarely leaves the church, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Conservatively estimated, he will leave the church for an hour. At that time, I will wait for you at the entrance of the underground passage of the Crescent Church. After meeting, I will tell you the specific location where the [Lamp] is stored."

"How is it divided?"

Gu Shen smiled slightly.

He asked the most important question.

Two people, one lamp... how is it divided?

"I can give you that lamp... after all, it's not a sealed item, and you can't tell me its true method of use. Even if I get it, it's useless."

Xiao said quietly, "But I want the other sealed items in the underground of the Crescent Church... you don't have to worry about how I can get them, I have my own way."

The dagger is revealed. (Idiom: the real intention is revealed at the last moment)

Gu Shen looked at the man lazily lying on the chair, and said the most greedy words in the most flat tone.

Gu Shen wanted that "one."

He wanted all the others.

"After it's over... we each run away, and the rest depends on our own abilities." Xiao said with a smile, "This is the whole plan."

……

……

Time flies.

Gu Shen arrived in front of the Crescent Church at the agreed time...

Under the bright moonlight, the goddess statue of the Crescent Church looked sacred and solemn. He moved forward "piously" with a smile, wearing a white robe, exchanging blessings with several priests. At this moment, there were no more believers in the church.

In front of a secret passage on the side of the church, Gu Shen saw a tall priest in a black robe, with a blood-colored red light flashing in his eyes.

When Gu Shen saw that red light, he knew the other party's identity.

He approached slowly. The tall priest stepped aside to make way for the passage, and at the same time, a smile appeared under the black robe: "You're really on time... I thought you would refuse..."

Gu Shen simply said lightly, "Hurry up."

He didn't refuse Xiao's invitation.

The reason was simple... If the Lantern of Wrath was really under the church's secret room, then Xiao's plan was indeed the simplest and fastest way. Seeking a breakthrough through other channels would waste more time.

There was another important point.

How many eyes were staring at him in Xiyin City... Gu Shen couldn't find out in a short time.

If one of Xiao's bodies was responsible for the guard work of the Crescent Church, the difficulty of avoiding his actions would increase again... this almost became an impossible task.

In this case, "cooperation" was the only way to go!

The moment the two entered the passage.

Chu Ling began to spread the network through spiritual links, replicating the underground map of the Crescent Church... This was a vast underground space like a prison. One secret room after another contained the Crescent Church's "secret objects," some were sealed items, and some were major cases that could not be seen by others.

And the spread of the spiritual network soon encountered obstacles.

"This is surrounded by a huge ring-shaped wall... it's a strong logical material." Chu Ling realized that this was the defense system that Xiao had said before, "It will take time to crack the password..."

Gu Shen said in his heart, "Understood, how long will it take?"

"Thirteen digits." Chu Ling's voice became solemn, "It will take a long time to crack these passwords..."

Gu Shen looked aside.

"You have to know... the people who believe in these churches have some problems with their brains, they are all crazy."

Xiao seemed to have mind-reading skills and guessed what Gu Shen was thinking at the moment.

He shrugged and smiled, "This is why I wanted to come here to 'work as a gatekeeper'. Even if I can borrow the authority of [Deep Sea], I can't crack such a long password in a short time. Compared to that... I would rather choose to lurk."

Xiao stood in front of the mithril door, looked at Gu Shen, and said slowly, "I have already taken care of another guard... the [Lamp] is in secret room number 13. Next, there is a total of 15 minutes of action time. Are you ready?"

Gu Shen nodded.

"Let's do it."